Julio Alberto Raygoza Villanueva is on the verge of living out his childhood dream. From an early age he knew he wanted to grow up to become a pilot. Now age 21, the Chapala native is enrolled in flight school, steadily advancing on his desired career path. But his proud family worries that the high cost of continued training may keep him grounded.
Julio Alberto Raygoza Villanueva is on the verge of living out his childhood dream. From an early age he knew he wanted to grow up to become a pilot. Now age 21, the Chapala native is enrolled in flight school, steadily advancing on his desired career path. But his proud family worries that the high cost of continued training may keep him grounded.
Last November Julio initiated training as a commercial pilot of fixed-wing airplane at the Guadalajara branch of iFly Escuela de Vuelo, an affiliate of the General Direction of Civil Aeronautics. So far he has racked up an excellent academic record, with above average marks in all theoretical and practical courses. His latest report card, issued on May 30, showed an average grade of 93.8 earned in a total of 12 subjects.
While that is an admirable achievement, Julio’s greatest sense of pride stems from getting off the ground in the first phase of hands-on training. After wrapping up initial classroom studies in Guadalajara at the end of February, he shipped off to the iFly campus in Merida, Yucatán to begin practical courses. On May 20, he landed his first solo flight, earning his first set of pilot’s wings.
Reaching that goal has come after an arduous life journey for this young man. He digs deep into memory to recall where it all began.
“On my eighth birthday my parents took me to Guadalajara to celebrate with a day of fun at Diversiones Moy, a video game and entertainment center at a shopping mall. I tried out the flight simulator and stayed there for hours until it was time to return home to Chapala. And that’s where my passion for aviation was born,” he recalls.
Two years later an accident caused a significant physical setback. One day while playing in an inflatable bounce house at a birthday party, a playmate fell and sat on his head, briefly cutting off his oxygen supply and knocking him out. After that he began to experience episodes of loss of conscious that were eventually diagnosed as absence seizure epilepsy.
His neurologist prescribed medicine to help stabilize his brain’s electrical activity and keep the seizures under control. Like many young patients afflicted with the malady, he outgrew the mild form of epilepsy after hitting puberty.
However, the medication provoked severe weight gain which in turn prompted bullying among Julio’s peers and damaged his self-esteem.
Rather than wallowing in misery, Julio battled these issues by working hard to excel at school and devoting free time to volunteer activities to help others.
In 2005 he signed on as a volunteer at Chapala’s Cruz Roja, becoming a leader of its youth group. Over a decade in that capacity he mastered the application of first aid skills and learned the ropes in rescue work and humanitarian services.
He expanded in that realm by joining the volunteer squad at the local Civil Protection and Firefighter’s Unit in 2012. By January of last year he had accumulated sufficient knowledge and experience to be enlisted as a regular salaried employee.
Meanwhile, throughout his high school years he stood out as a star student at the Preparatoria de Chapala. He also overcame obesity by taking up crossfit training, knocking his weight down from a hefty 103 kilos to cut a buff figure at 84 kilos.
Julio’s proud parents, Blanca Villanueva and Javier Raygoza, boasts of their son’s staunch determination to better his life and of the qualities of his huge heart. “He once told me he would be happy to give up his own life to save someone else,” his mom remarks as tears well up in her eyes.
The couple only lament that their financial limitations stand as the single obstacle that could keep Julio from following his dream. The total cost of his training program-including costly flight practices — will exceed 500,000 pesos.
His continuation at iFly is now contingent upon his family’s ability to cover the daunting expenses. They hope that sharing his story will inspire a generous benefactor to become a scholarship sponsor and keep the would-be fly boy out of a holding pattern in the pursuit of his pilot’s license. For more information, contact them at telephone 765-3535 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..